Postcodes in The United Kingdom - Overseas Territories

Overseas Territories

Some of the UK's overseas territories have their own postcodes, each postcode covering all addresses in the relevant territory:

These were introduced because mail was often sent to the wrong place, e.g., St Helena to St Helens, Merseyside and Ascension Island to Asunción, Paraguay. In addition, many online companies would not accept addresses without a postcode. Mail from the UK continues to be treated as international, not inland, and sufficient postage must be used. Royal Mail's Heathrow centre collects all live underpaid mail for surcharging, and there is a reciprocal arrangement with Postal Services around the world to collect. An agreed payment based on volumes is made, year on year. Other forms of postage are collected at local Mail Centres, but Heathrow collects those that still get forwarded to them, that manage to arrive there. Bermuda, the UK's most populous remaining overseas territory, has developed its own, entirely separate, postcode system, with unique postcodes for street and PO Box addresses, as have the Cayman Islands and the British Virgin Islands. Montserrat and Gibraltar do not have postcodes, although a postcode system has been under consideration in Gibraltar. Postcodes are not used in the Turks and Caicos Islands and the TKCA 1ZZ designation is generally unknown.